


Forever in a Day

by midnightdrops



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Mother-Son Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 13:30:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6425869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightdrops/pseuds/midnightdrops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was like an echo, the past sounds of small feet pounding against the wood floor now absent, giving the temple a very eerie feel. There was no evidence that a small boy used to live there with them, a boy who had grown up to become a powerful, strong Gem and lively human adult, a boy capable of loving any creature or person despite their flaws. </p><p>A boy who had stolen their hearts from the moment they met him.</p><p>(Steven dies, Rose is back, and the Gems cope.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forever in a Day

**Author's Note:**

> Based off a post that pearl-likes-pi made!! I started writing a fic about how Pearl took Steven’s death and then I ended up adding all the Crystal Gems and I’m sorry just yes here *puts this down and runs away*
> 
> I hope y'all like it!

Inspiration from [this post.](http://pearl-likes-pi.tumblr.com/post/139919678588/list-of-my-demands)

* * *

 

It was like an echo, the past sounds of small feet pounding against the wood floor now absent, giving the temple a very eerie feel. Now there was very minimal movement, if any, as the three - four, now - Gems that inhabited the temple were not in the mood to do anything. There was no evidence that a small boy used to live there with them, a boy who had grown up to become a powerful, strong Gem and lively human adult, a boy capable of loving any creature or person despite their flaws.

A boy who had stolen their hearts from the moment they met him. 

* * *

Garnet never felt alone, not when she had Ruby and Sapphire. She had also known this moment was coming the minute Steven was born - not because of her future vision, but because he was half-human. 

Humans died. They all knew that. Garnet simply shrugged it off, knowing that the child would live a happy and joyful life, and Rose would understand what it felt like to be human. He was proof of love, a fusion, not unlike her. She was more than ready to take on the child, to help raise this bundle of joy. 

But the moment Steven had started showing signs of old age and sickness, Garnet could feel her heart drop what felt like thousands of feet. Steven, who was always a lively and radiant child, had started to slow down, his every step slower and his small face full of wrinkles. His dark chocolate curls began greying, and fatigue overcame his every movement. His stature shortened slightly and though sometimes he needed things repeated, the starry-eyed half-Gem never frowned. 

None of them could not deny it, though - Steven, their precious child, was dying. 

Garnet had attempted to keep everything above waters, since she and Steven knew that no one would take this well when he was gone. Amethyst would joke around, challenging Steven to pie-eating contests, or Pearl would offer to re-tell him the bedtime stories she used to when he was a toddler. Steven would cheerfully agree to each of these offers, much to the two Gems’ delight, but the constant need for help walking across the room served as the grim reminder of his age, hitting everyone again. 

He called Garnet over to his room one week before he passed, a weak smile on his face. Garnet sat down next to him and gently ran a hand through his soft hair. The half-human closed his eyes and relaxed slightly, slowly adjusting his position in his bed. 

“Garnet?”

“Mm?”

“What do you see in my future?”

The question had hit hard, and Garnet knew Steven was aware of it. Yet she tilted her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Steven looked down at his fingers, which were fidgeting nervously above his sheets. He opened his mouth to answer her question but then closed it, gulping quietly. 

“Steven?” She leaned in closer, glancing at him. His nervous attitude hadn’t changed at all since he was a boy, and Garnet could tell something was wrong. 

“I-I know that Connie is up with the stars, now,” the old man looked up at the ceiling of his bedroom, “I just wanna know if I’ll get to join her.”

Steven knew she couldn’t see people’s futures after they died, and suddenly Garnet understood what he was truly asking. The fusion felt a lump rise in her throat but she suppressed it and smiled, holding Steven’s hand in hers. “Of course you will.”

He chuckled quietly. “What are the odds?”

Her thumb gently stroked his wrinkled hand. “I see it in every possible future.”

The man leaned forward and tightly hugged the taller Gem, sniffling quietly. “J-Just don’t forget--”

“We never could, Steven.” Garnet pulled away and wiped a tear that was streaking down his face. She used to wipe his tears all the time when he was younger, to help him feel strong and loved, to help him face his fears. Now was no different. 

She pulled him back into the hug and felt her own tears streaming across her cheeks. “We could never forget you. Never in all of our existence could we  _ ever  _ forget you, Steven.”

* * *

_ “You’re going to be like a guardian to him.” _

Amethyst knew from the moment she met the baby that she loved him. A Quartz, different and small for his kind, and adorable; she knew that she and the little guy were gonna get along great. 

Rose had told her that it was  _ her _ turn to act like a guardian to someone of her own kind, except he, this child, would be  _ her,  _ Rose _. _ Amethyst was pretty young so she didn’t completely understand it until Rose disappeared and there was a small human baby in her spot. Regardless, the baby needed guidance and assurance - that’s what she, Garnet, Pearl and Greg were for. 

Less than a century later, and the formerly-baby Steven Universe was assuring  _ her _ , a tired but lighthearted smile on his face.    
“We’ll see each other again, Amethyst.” 

“You don’t know that.” Amethyst replied quietly, arms crossed. “You’re going to--” she shook her head and sniffed, her pale lavender hair falling over her face. She couldn’t even say the word, afraid that he’d go ahead and disappear if she said it. 

Being a tough Gem always made Amethyst feel like she was the best. Although she was smaller for her size and not as big as she was designed to be, Steven never failed to make her feel like she was powerful, like she was the strongest being in the whole world. Hearing him cheer her on as the Purple Puma made her feel as if she was winning the biggest matches of her life - she couldn’t seem to remember fighting without “Tiger Millionaire” encouraging her in the stands, his starry-eyed expression giving her all the strength she needed.

His gleaming eyes were still giving her strength now, but just barely. 

Steven looked up at the other two Gems, letting out a small cough. “I’ll always be with you, in--” 

Amethyst glared at him, pointing at him accusingly. “If you say in our hearts, Steven, so  _ help me I’ll--” _

Pearl let out a small sob behind Amethyst and Garnet slipped a hand under her visors, wiping her own tears. Steven just chuckled softly and shook his head. 

“I guess I’m too cheesy for my own good, huh?” He shrugged, winking at Amethyst and grasping her hand. “You always said I was too soft.” 

He  _ was  _ too soft. He was dying, only having lived for less than a century. Amethyst let out a small growl, wanting to pull out her whip and smash something. How was any of this fair? 

Pearl was now on the other side of Steven’s bed, holding his free hand. “S-Steven,” she whispered, her lower lip quivering as she spoke, “Steven, we l-love you.”

“I know,” the old man laid back into his pillow, his eyes closing. “I love you guys too. Thank you so much for this.”

“No, no,” Amethyst reached out, grabbing Steven by his shoulders. Tears started forming in her eyes and they fell past her purple cheeks, her face burning as she cried. “Steven,  _ no!” _

“Amethyst, thank you for all the fun,” Steven whispered, coughing in between his words, “I think without you I would’ve been smashed into a pancake on multiple occasions.” 

“Steven,” Pearl was adjusting his pillow, “you shouldn’t talk much, you should save your strength--”

“Pearl,” he turned to his other side, wincing slightly but holding onto her hand, “thank you for teaching me about how size didn’t matter, and how strength comes in multiple forms.” 

Pearl let out a wail, and Amethyst could feel her own heart racing. Her stomach felt upset, like the time she had eaten that expired burrito, but worse. Drop after drop poured out of her eyes and she felt her nose become loose, messily wiping her face as she watched the half-Gem in front of her turn to face Garnet.

“Garnet, thank you for all the self esteem boosts, future visions and the pure awesomeness.” Steven laughed softly. “You truly got me up when I was down, and you taught me what true teamwork is.”

Garnet sniffed quietly and leaned forward, kissing Steven on his forehead. Pearl followed suit, Amethyst doing the same afterwards. Their once-bubbly child let out a small sigh and leaned back, seeming to sink into his pillows. 

“Thank you guys so much for this.” Steven repeated, and coughed again. “I love you all, and I’ll miss you guys so much.”

A bright pink light covered the room, no different from the day Steven was born. Garnet drew a shaky breath, Pearl shrieked for Steven to come back, and Amethyst couldn’t help but feel as if she lost the biggest and most important match of her life.

* * *

 

_ “Now I’m here. On Earth. Forever.” _

_ “With me!” _

No,  _ not _ with him. He wasn’t here anymore. Fresh tears spilled from Pearl’s eyes and she bent forward, burying her face in her hands for the third time that hour. 

No, not with Steven. He wasn’t here anymore. She was alone. Again. 

The moment that Steven had given his last smile and passed -- no, _disappeared --_ pink light had bathed the temple. A few moments later, Rose Quartz was standing there, looking exactly as she did seventy-three years ago. She was crying, too, and she collapsed onto the floor in quiet sobs, later joined by the rest of the three Gems. 

Pearl had been waiting for this moment since the moment Steven was born, referring to him as “Greg’s boy” for as long as she could. She knew humans only lasted less than a century, which was nothing to a Gem of her age. She had planned to ignore the boy for a century, but once she held him, once he smiled and giggled in her arms, all hate and resent for him immediately melted. 

And now, here she was. The woman Pearl had been in love with for centuries was in the room next to hers, and it only took a knock for the white Gem to see the Quartz of who she dreamed of every night. All she had to do was get up from her room, exit the temple door and call her name. She’d finally arrive in her full, beautiful form.

But it seemed so unfair. Pearl knew that the two beings couldn’t exist simultaneously, but with Steven gone, it felt like no one needed her. 

No one needed her to tell them about the culture of Gems, how they were made and the different inventions that they could make. No one needed her to tell them of the infinite universe, the perfect way galaxies lined up and how the Milky Way truly was a wonderful sight to see in person. 

No one needed her to tell them a bedtime story at night, or to make their hot chocolate with the perfect amount of cinnamon and nutmeg in it. 

Steven was gone, and Pearl felt like nothing had meaning anymore. The little boy who would shyly show off his crayon drawings to her and whose eyes would sparkle when she told him about space was gone, forever. He taught her what it felt like to be one of a kind, how to be unique, and Pearl couldn’t help but feel bitter at how ironic it was. 

Steven was the most special, distinctive and rare individual she would ever have the pleasure of knowing, and he was gone. 

She let out another moan and cried again, shaking her head. Gems lived to be thousands of years old, and he had lived less than a century. She would have to cling to her memories of him for as long as she could, and the very idea that she had to made her feel sick.

* * *

 

Rose felt nothing but guilt.

She had learned so many things about Earth and humans through Steven, and had learned about the concept of “love”, how it came so naturally to humans. 

However she had left her beloved friends in doing so, as well as the father of her son. She promised to come back a century later, knowing that the Gems would be waiting for her, and that they would honor her last wishes to take care of the child. 

But in doing  _ that _ , she had also taken away the child who had left such an impact that her fellow Gems continued crying once she appeared in full form. She didn’t receive a victorious celebration or tight hugs, and honestly she hadn’t expected to. 

She simply entered her room and sat down on the floor, crying. 

Rose never got to meet Steven directly, and although he had the Gems to raise him, she was never able to give him a proper mother. She could have had a wholly-human child, therefore saving her, Greg, the Gems, and Steven all this pain. She wanted a half-Gem half-human to bridge the gaps between the two worlds, and although he did, it was all over now. She would never see her son. 

Rose gulped and looked up at the pink clouds of her room, her lower lip quivering. 

“Show me Steven.” 


End file.
